On Friday, roughly one hundred people gathered outside on the sidewalk near Sizzle Pie in downtown Eugene. While there, Black Lives Matter supporters created posters for the cause.
Now that signs have been made, one of the local Black Lives Matter organizers Moses Jackson said the group will ask businesses to hang the posters in their windows in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“This is a small town where small businesses thrive because of small individuals like ourselves who just wanted freedom to pursue their own destiny,” said Jackson. “That's freedom. So if you actually are proud of creating a business and pursuing your own freedom, you're not letting us be free if you don't let us pursue our own freedom too.”
Jackson said the group is also working to support local establishments that were damaged last week when protests turned violent. Their plan is to help by promoting businesses on social media, raising money, and increasing their sales.
“We can make up for it by having an event where everyone comes here [and] earns them some money,” said Jackson. “Because COVID-19 must have been hard, and then getting damaged by us was just the end. I already know what it's like to put all your heart and soul into something and then just have someone else ruin it. So we're not going to do that to anybody in Eugene.”
People interested in donating funds to help businesses that were vandalized can email blmeugorg@gmail.com.